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Sport
Steve Larkin

Crows coach offers support to AFL rival

Matthew Nicks says he will reach out to under-fire GWS rival Leon Cameron when the time is right. (AAP)

Adelaide's Matthew Nicks will soon reach out in support to his beleaguered GWS coaching counterpart Leon Cameron.

Nicks hosts his former boss Cameron and the Giants at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

With the Giants in 15th spot with just one win, Cameron's tenure has become a talking point despite the coach and club shelving discussions until season's end.

Nicks joined Adelaide as head coach after serving as an assistant to Cameron at GWS in 2019.

"Leon knows he has got 100 per cent support from me," Nicks told reporters on Friday.

"I learnt so much from him in a short period of time and I know he has got the support there for me as well.

"So when the time is right, I will reach out and touch base."

The Giants travel to meet a 10th-placed Adelaide outfit with three wins in their past four games and bracing for a contested scrap of a game.

"They (GWS) have also got the ability to fight and take the game into that sort of style of footy," Nicks said.

"We enjoy that style. So that will make for a really good match-up but we have got to bring our best to get it done."

The Crows have beaten Richmond and the Western Bullsogs in consecutive weeks with Nicks admiring a new-found maturity within his playing group.

But he said "the last couple of weeks don't mean much" if the Crows slip against the Giants.

"I wouldn't say we have turned a corner," Nicks said.

"We have been progressing well.

"The last couple of weeks have definitely given us a really big leap as far as belief goes.

"But that can all come undone with a couple of games where you are not quite at the level, so we understand that.

"We had the same (win-loss) record to this point in time last year but we are really confident we're a different group.

"We have matured incredibly well throughout that 12-month period, we have got a lot more cohesion in the group and understanding around game plan ... we're very much aligned on the way we're playing our football."

Adelaide's second-year forward Riley Thilthorpe, who has been playing recently at state-league level, has been ruled out of any action this weekend because of COVID-19 related protocols.

Nicks said about four Crows staffers, including coaches, had also been sidelined from weekend games.

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